Advocacy

Florida Ports Council 2014 Legislative Session Weekly Recaps

Florida Legislative Session 2014 Weekly Recaps

Pre-Session:

The Regular Legislative Session for 2014 begins March 5th. It’s an election year, and there are several major topics of discussion before this Legislature – pension reform, tax cuts and education funding. The good news is that state revenues are up, and we expect an addition of projects or tax breaks rather than the cuts as in years past. The growth of Florida’s seaports remains a topic of discussion for the Governor and our legislative leaders. The most prominent legislative issues for Florida seaports including seaport infrastructure funding, language regarding freight logistics zones, and the FDOT Legislative Package. We are also watching bills regarding motorist fees and governmental ethics for potential impacts.

Week 1:

The Regular Legislative Session for 2014 began this week. The Legislature began the Session with the passage of bills relating to additional criminal charges for sexual predators, in-state tuition for military veterans, and residency requirements for members of the Legislature. This week we are watching bills regarding freight logistics zones and local bills regarding local port authorities.

Week 2:

The second week of Regular Legislative Session for 2014 is now complete. The Legislature is moving quickly on several priority issues and will begin developing the Fiscal Year 2014/15 budget next week. The House and Senate appropriations subcommittee will begin developing the budgets for their respective policy areas. We expect them to follow most of the recommendations from the Department of Transportation concerning the FDOT Work Program. We are watching certain public records bills that could potentially impact the Council and our ports.

Week 3:

The third week of Regular Legislative Session for 2014 is complete. The Legislature has passed the motor vehicle registration fee “roll-back”, is moving quickly on their initial fiscal year 2014/15 budget, and has begun the development of other tax incentive/economic development legislation. The House and Senate appropriations subcommittees on Transportation and Economic Development Appropriations have developed their initial budget recommendations. Both the House and Senate subcommittees have proposed full funding the FDOT Work Program recommendations. The House currently funds the FDOT Work Program at $8.9 billion, and the Senate funds it at $8.7 billion. Since there will be a budget surplus this year, we expect that additional transportation projects will be funded in the final General Appropriations Act at the end of Session. A bill creating freight logistics zones to encourage international trade is moving and we continue to watch any bills that may impact Florida’s ports.

Week 4:

We have reached the half-way point of Regular Legislative Session for 2014, and the fourth week of meetings is complete. Most of the non-appropriations House committees have held their last formal meeting for this Session, and bills are moving or dying quickly. The House and Senate full appropriations committees both passed out their initial FY 2014/15 General Appropriations Act proposals with limited amendments this week. Both have scheduled a floor hearing for the bills next week, with the potential for assignment of conference committees the week of April 7th. There were no changes made to the recommendations for the FDOT Work Program, and as reported last week both sides fully fund the Program.

Week 5:

The Legislature has been busy the past five weeks and we are now past the halfway point of the Regular Legislative Session for 2014. Many House and Senate committees are completing their last formal meetings for this Session, and the Fiscal Year 2014/15 General Appropriation Act is ready for conference meetings to begin. The House and Senate have passed out their respective versions of the FY 2014/15 General Appropriations Act. Conference committees have not been set to date, but they could begin as soon as next week. There were no changes made to the recommendations for the FDOT Work Program. The House version of the Freight Logistics Zone bill is now available for a vote by the full House and the Senate languagehas one more committee reference — the full Appropriations Committee.

Week 6:

The Legislature will take next week off for Passover and Easter, and then begin the final busy two weeks of Regular Session 2014. We expect conference negotiations on the 2014/15 General Appropriation Act to begin after the break. Line item appropriations for seaport projects are the same in both the House and Senate, so we do not expect any problems with the $139 million for seaport projects recommended by the Governor in the FDOT Work Program. We also expect the House version of the Freight Logistics Zone bill to pass out of the House that week, and be eligible for a vote by the Full Senate by the last week of Session. We are working with the FDOT to stress our support to legislators for HB 5601, which provides an additional $100 million of sales tax dollar annually into the State Transportation Trust Fund. We are specifically meeting with Senate leadership to advocate for the passage of these additional monies for important freight mobility projects around the state.

Week 7:

Conference negotiations have begun on the 2014/15 General Appropriation Act and we are hard at work supporting funding for seaport projects. Line item appropriations for seaport projects are the same in both the House and Senate, so we do not expect any problems with the $139 million for seaport projects recommended by the Governor in the FDOT Work Program. We also expect the House version of the Freight Logistics Zone bill passed out of the House this week, and is eligible for a final vote by the Full Senate. We are working with the FDOT to stress our support to legislators for HB 5601, which provides an additional $100 million of sales tax dollar annually into the State Transportation Trust Fund and meeting with Senate leadership to advocate for the passage of these additional monies for important freight mobility projects around the state.

Week 8:

There is one more week left in the Regular Legislative Session for 2014. The House and Senate are finalizing budget negotiations, and last minute negotiations on bills are being conducted. The House and Senate have closed out seaport budget items in the transportation portion of the FY 2014/15 General Appropriations Act. Based on increased revenues, Florida seaports should receive approximately $140 million for priority projects – making this four years straight for the Governor and Florida Legislature investing more than $100 million. Transportation legislation may again pass in the last couple days of Session, and we continue to advocate for an additional $100 million to be added to the State Transportation Trust Fund from sales tax revenues.

Florida Ports Legislative Update: Final Update

The House and Senate have closed out seaport budget items in the transportation portion of the FY 2014/15 General Appropriations Act, with Florida seaports receiving approximately $140 million for priority projects – making this four years straight for the Governor and Florida Legislature investing more than $100 million. FDOT’s Transportation legislation passed in the last hours of session. The Florida Ports Council was proud to support FDOT’s initiatives and work with the Florida Legislature on seaport-related issues throughout Session, and we look forward to working with them as we move toward Legislative Session 2015.